Viking Folding Scales Gotland, Bronze

Viking Folding Scales Gotland, Bronze

The trade and and the turnover of goods was very important for major settlements of the viking age. Many finds of scales and weights were also made in the burial fields. They were used to weigh precious metal and coins.
Our reproduction has been made after a find from Gotland (SHM7571:533), completed with an attachment from another find of the same type (SHM12960). The distributor with 4 bronze chains comes from a find in Visby, dating in its type to the early 11th century (SHM6104). While in earlier times (10th century) cords were used to suspend the scales, in the 11th century chains with 3 or 4 attachment points increasingly came into fashion.
In the version with cords, the weighing pans are attached to stiff, waxed cords, which should largely prevent twisting and knotting.

Width approx. 16cm, diameter of the scale plates 5,5 cm.

Literature:
Lena Thunmark-Nylén, Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands, Band I bis IV